| Notes |
- John, the youngest of five sons of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, was at first not expected to inherit significant lands; became Henry's favourite child. John grew up to be around 5 ft 5 in. John's first period of rule in Ireland was not a success. Ireland had only recently been conquered by Anglo-Norman forces, and tensions were still rife between Henry II, the new settlers and the existing inhabitants.[28] John infamously offended the local Irish rulers by making fun of their unfashionable long beards. In order to remarry, John first needed to abandon Isabel, Countess of Gloucester, his first wife; as a cousin, John could not have legally wed her without this. Marrying Isabella of Angoulême, John was acquiring a key land route between Poitou and Gascony, which significantly strengthened his grip on Aquitaine. At the start of John's reign there was a sudden change in prices, as bad harvests and high demand for food resulted in much higher prices for grain and animals. This inflationary pressure was to continue for the rest of the 13th century and had long-term economic consequences for England. From Henry II onwards, ira et malevolentia had come to describe the right of the king to express his anger and displeasure at particular barons or clergy, building on the Norman concept of malevoncia – royal ill-will.[116] In the Norman period, suffering the king's ill-will meant difficulties in obtaining grants, honours or petitions; John was deeply suspicious of the barons. Chroniclers complained that John's mistresses were married noblewomen, which was considered unacceptable. During the remainder of his reign, John focused on trying to retake Normandy and England itself had to be secured against possible French invasion, John became involved in a dispute with Pope Innocent III that would lead to the king's excommunication. John refused Innocent's request that he consent to Langton's appointment, but the pope consecrated Langton anyway. He barred Langton from entering England and seized the lands of the archbishopric and other papal possessions.
Neither John nor the rebel barons seriously attempted to implement the peace accord. The failure of the agreement led rapidly to the First Barons' War. The rebel barons responded by inviting Prince Louis of France to lead them: Louis had a claim to the English throne by virtue of his marriage to Blanche of Castile, a granddaughter of Henry II. John contracted dysentery, which would ultimately prove fatal. By October 1216 John faced a "stalemate", "a military situation uncompromised by defeat". John's illness grew worse. John died on the night of 18 October. John's first wife, Isabel, Countess of Gloucester, was released from imprisonment in 1214; she remarried twice, and died in 1217. John's second wife, Isabella of Angoulême, left England for Angoulême soon after the king's death; she became a powerful regional leader, but largely abandoned the children she had had by John.
Popular representations of John first began to emerge during the Tudor period: Shakespeare's King John, Sir Walter Scott's historical romance, Ivanhoe, Howard Pyle's book The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood. Excerpts from Wikipedia.org.
Name: King John
Born: December 24, 1166 at Beaumont Palace : Oxford
Parents: Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine
House of: Angevin ( Plantagenet)
Ascended to the throne: April 6, 1199 aged 32 years
Crowned: May 27, 1199 at Westminster Abbey
Married: 1) Isabella of Gloucester, (annulled 1199), (2) Isabella, Daughter of Count of Angouleme
Children: Two sons including Henry III, three daughters and several illegitimate children
Died: October 18, 1216 at Newark Castle, aged 49 years, 9 months, and 24 days
Buried at: Worcester
Reigned for: 17 years, 6 months, and 13 days
Succeeded by: his son Henry III
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John was nicknamed Lackland, probably because, as the youngest of Henry II's five sons, it was difficult to find a portion of his father's French possessions for him to inherit. He was acting king from 1189 during his brother Richard the Lion-Heart's absence on the Third Crusade. The legend of Robin Hood dates from this time in which John is portrayed as Bad King John. He was involved in intrigues against his absent brother, but became king in 1199 when Richard was killed in battle in France.
King John signs Magna Carta 1215
Most of his reign was dominated by war with France. Following the peace treaty of Le Goulet there was a brief peace, but fighting resumed again in 1202. John had lost Normandy and almost all the other English possessions in France to Philip II of France by 1204. He spent the next decade trying to regain these without success and was finally defeated by Philip Augustus at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214. He was also in conflict with the Church. In 1205 he disputed the pope's choice of Stephen Langton as archbishop of Canterbury, and Pope Innocent III placed England under an interdict, suspending all religious services, including baptisms, marriages, and burials. John retaliated by seizing church revenues, and in 1209 was excommunicated. Eventually, John submitted, accepting the papal nominee, and agreed to hold the kingdom as a fief of the papacy; an annual monetary tribute was paid to the popes for the next 150 years by successive English monarchs.
His concessions did not buy peace for long and the Barons War continued. The barons sought French aid and Prince Louis of France landed in England supported by attacks from the North by Alexander II of Scotland. John fled and according to legend lost most of his baggage and the crown jewels when crossing the tidal estuaries of the Wash. He became ill with dysentery and died at Newark Castle in October 1216.
Timeline for King John
Year Event
1199 John accedes to the throne on the death of his brother, Richard I.
1204 England loses most of its possessions in France.
1205 John refuses to accept Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury
1208 Pope Innocent III issues an Interdict against England, banning all church services except baptisms and funerals
1209 Pope Innocent III excommunicates John for his confiscation of ecclesiastical property
1209 Cambridge University founded
1212 Innocent III declares that John is no longer the rightful King
1213 John submits to the Pope’s demands and accepts the authority of the Pope
1214 Philip Augustus of France defeats the English at the Battle of Bouvines
1215 Beginning of the Barons' war. The English Barons march to London to demand rights which they lay down in the Magna Carta.
1215 John meets the English barons at Runnymede, agrees to their demands, and seals the Magna Carta which set limits on the powers of the monarch, lays out the feudal obligations of the barons, confirms the liberties of the Church, and grants rights to all freemen of the realm and their heirs for ever. It is the first written constitution.
1215 The Pope decrees that John need not adhere to the Magna Carta, and civil war breaks out
1216 The barons seek French aid in their fight against John. Prince Louis of France lands in England and captures the Tower of London
1216 John flees North and loses his war chest of cash and jewels in the Wash estuary
1216 John dies of a fever at Newark and is buried Worcester Cathedral
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1166 - 1216 (49 years)
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